‘How I Met Your Mother’ Recap: ‘Vesuvius’

A snowy night in 2024, Ted and The Mother are at the Inn talking by the fire. The Mother points out the fact that Ted has repeatedly told the same snowstorm stories. Ted also points out she has told all of her stories repeatedly. They have officially become an old married couple. A realization they exchange a celebratory high five too.

There is, however, one story that Ted begins to tell that The Mother believes she does not know yet.

In a flashback we see Robin and her little sister (Lucy Hale) playing a game of indoor hockey the morning of the wedding, an activity Lily is not supportive of. Meanwhile, Ted is trying to bribe the hotel clerk into revealing who the guest in room 9 is. It turns out; the room is filled with an array of suits for Barney to choose from. The issue though is that Barney can’t seem to choose one.

Barney struggles to choose a suit because each one seems to have an R-rated memory attached to it. Finally Ted picks out the one suit Barney hasn’t worn that doesn’t have any memories attached to it yet and is waiting for them to be made. Barney then realizes the suit is a perfect fit and settles right into it only to bring out a rack of belts to also choose from.

Lily is rehashing “love memories” with Robin in an effort to get her to appreciate the importance of her wedding day. Instead of beaming with wedding day joy, Robin is more interested in watching The Wedding Bride Too.Lily is having trouble dealing with Robin’s lack of “holy crap this is my wedding day-ness,” but still ends up watching the “smash hit” with her and Marshall. Not even Robin’s grandma sharing a photograph of herself on her wedding day taps into her girly wedding day emotions.

It’s not until Lily points out that it’s the last time they’ll be together before Ted moves to Chicago that they all decide to enjoy the moment and day together.

The guys leave Robin’s room and then Robin follows to get some ice, but upon exiting the room she runs into an unexpected wedding guest—her mother! ”Of course she showed up,” the Mother cuts in as Ted tells the story. “What mother is going to miss her daughter’s wedding?” That’s when Ted’s breaks down. Were now left to assume The Mother for some reason, wont be at her own daughters wedding. The only clues we have are this moment and the moment when she tells Ted she worries he will be “a man who lives only in his stories” and to remember, “life only moves forward.”

Before this episode I would have put aside any theories that Ted is telling the story of how he met their dead mother aside, but now it of course seems plausible. That or maybe she is not dead, but ill. Hopefully that will all be revealed soon. With the finale at the end of this month, I admit this episode was a bit slow and similar to earlier episodes this season that were obvious fillers. I did enjoy the addition of the character Narshall in The Wedding Bride Too and the return of Swarly.